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Recently, we came across theemotionalinvestor.org which is run by Jay Mooreland who, like Joshua Brown, can be described as a reformed broker. As a holder of the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation and a Master’s Degree in Applied Economics, Mr. Mooreland ...Read More

Question: I understand that there is evidence that momentum is one contributing factor to long term performance (in addition to the size and value factors). There is a current advisory service (Fundx) that ...Read More

Around this time last year (i.e. shortly after 12/31/2013), we recall how five-year annualized returns of various mutual funds got a substantial boost not only from adding the good year of 2013 but from ...Read More

A few weeks ago, we published this article about a White House memo in which the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers (Jason Furman) recommended that brokers who service retirement accounts be legally ...Read More

Anyone who has visited IFA’s office in Irvine will likely have a fond memory of Francis, IFA’s probability machine, named after Francis Galton, an English mathematician who was an expert in many ...Read More

A few months ago, we published this article addressing the woefully inadequate level of American financial literacy as it relates to retirement saving and investing. This newly released issue brief from EBRI ...Read More

The 39.6% ordinary tax rate and 20% capital gain tax rate enacted by the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (ATRA) and the 3.8% Medicare investment surtax now apply when trust income exceeds $11,950. ...Read More

The title above is a play on the title of this excellent article from the venerable New Yorker magazine which offers eight possible explanations for what Barry Ritholtz brilliantly calls The Most Fascinating ...Read More

As you may have guessed or perhaps already have known from articles such as this one or this one, we at Index Fund Advisors, Inc. are not fans of CNBC’s Jim Cramer. While some may claim that he has ...Read More

In the IFA Library of rare and antique finance-related books, we recently acquired a first edition from 1838 of Sketches of Imposture, Deception and Credulity. Although the author is officially anonymous, he ...Read More

We recently came across this Investor Bulletin from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that provides valuable information to investors who are looking to minimize the chances of having their accounts ...Read More

Question: Should I have a separate exposure to Commodities in my portfolio? In short, we have concluded that the answer is no, and we will explain why below. Based on returns data for the last 10, 20, 30, 40, ...Read More

“To some men speculation means a way to accumulate money without menial or physical labor- to the inexperienced only!” In Robert Lee Sharp and Wallace H. Matlock’s succinctly sarcastic 1951 ...Read More

On 1/27/2015, Apple released a spectacular earnings report for the first quarter of its 2015 fiscal year. Once again, it smashed through the analysts’ predictions, earning $3.06 per share vs. a consensus ...Read More

To get the most out of IFA FinPlan, we suggest taking a few minutes to adjust your privacy and alerts settings. This process is initiated by clicking on the “settings” link in the upper-right-hand ...Read More

Clients who have signed up for IFA FinPlan have the ability to securely store an unlimited number of files. In this article, we will discuss some of the files that you may want to upload to your vault. Please ...Read More

Recently, a White House memo dated 1/13/2015 from the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers (Jason Furman) came to our attention. Co-authored with fellow Council member Betsey Stevenson, it calls out ...Read More

“Why, if a speculator won every time, soon he would own everything in the world” -Arthur W. Cutten, veteran wheat pit trader In his autobiographical narrative titled the Story of a Speculator, the ...Read More

If you have a trust, you are probably familiar with the idea of trustee (which could be yourself) who oversees the administration of the trust and has a fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of the ...Read More

A donor advised fund (DAF) is a charitable giving vehicle administered by a public charity created to manage charitable contributions on behalf of organizations, families, or individuals. The giver opens an ...Read More

Question: I have heard that an equally-weighted version (as opposed to the standard market cap-weighted version) of the S&P 500 Index achieves a higher return without additional risk. Should I not use this ...Read More

At Index Fund Advisors, we consider 2014 to have been a tipping point year in the migration from active to passive management. Here are some of the articles that helped to convince us of this idea. Please ...Read More

As we have stated in prior articles such as this one, smart beta is primarily a marketing term that refers to the attempt to capture risk and return factors beyond beta (overall exposure to the market). The ...Read More

If you are an IFA.com frequent visitor, you’ve probably noticed that something looks different. In fact, a lot has changed – and we are really excited about it. New Logo & Tagline Inspired by ...Read More

At Index Fund Advisors, we implement portfolios for our clients that are tilted towards the compensated risk and return factors of small cap, value, and profitability. In this article, we will review the ...Read More

There is no arguing the fact that 2014 has been a difficult year for small cap stocks around the world (with the exception of emerging markets) and particularly in the U.S., as shown in the table below: For ...Read More

Forecasters often cite a figure of 8%–10% as a likely outcome for stock market performance in the year ahead, and 2014 was no exception. As sensible as this may sound, it is worth pointing out that over ...Read More

As the Securities and Exchange Commission admonishes newly-registered investment advisers on its Website, “As an investment adviser, you are a ‘fiduciary’ to your advisory clients. This means ...Read More

A few days ago, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) released its 2015 Regulatory and Examination Priorities letter highlighting significant risks and issues that, if not properly addressed, ...Read More

There is no arguing the fact that compared to U.S. large company stocks, 2014 was a difficult year globally diversified portfolios tilted towards small cap and value stocks. The table below shows the 2014 ...Read More

Here is a classic video by Weston Wellington at DFA. During the 2008 market downturn some investors may have questioned the wisdom of their investment strategy. Weston address a number of questions and ...Read More

Last year (2014) may someday be considered as the year of the tipping point from active to passive fund management. The Vanguard Group, the world’s largest provider of index mutual funds had ...Read More

There’s little more frustrating than being stuck in a traffic jam, especially when you’re trying to get somewhere important. The same can be said for the way developing and third-world countries ...Read More

At Index Fund Advisors, we place an extremely high value on being able to see the whole picture of our client’s finances. This goes far beyond just managing their investable assets. Towards that end, ...Read More

In the fourth quarter of 2014, domestic equities had a strong showing, but foreign equities pulled back for both international developed and emerging markets. One major market-related story was the steep drop ...Read More

We have often written about the woeful state of retirement readiness in the United States. According to Forbes, “Half of Americans don’t have any of the most basic estate planning documents, ...Read More

A health savings account (HSA) is a tax-advantaged medical savings account for people who are enrolled in a high-deductible health plan (HDHP). For this purpose, an HDHP must have a minimum deductible of ...Read More

At Index Fund Advisors, we often talk about the risk factors that explain the returns of diversified portfolios. In this article, we will explore the technique pioneered1 by Nobel Laureate Eugene Fama and ...Read More

I recently discovered a fascinating Website tracks Ponzi Schemes all over the world. It is appropriately named ponzitracker.com, and here is what it says for the first half of 2014: “In the first six ...Read More

Question: Should the bond portion of my portfolio be in bond funds or in a ladder of individual bonds? Answer: Like many things with respect to investing, a case can be made for either side. Any proposed bond ...Read More

There is no denying it; we Americans love an underdog, and what better underdog than a 17-year-old high school kid who beats Wall Street at its own game? Or so it seemed according to this fluff piece carried ...Read More

Does knowing what happened in the recent past with returns of index funds help you predict the future? We explore that question in the new interactive chart below. It allows you to choose one of four IFA Index ...Read More

We have published many articles about the woeful state of financial literacy in America. Just when we thought it could not get any worse, along comes this story from the American College of Financial Services. ...Read More

BrightScope and the Investment Company Institute recently collaborated to produce this report on the current state of 401(k) plans based on BrightScope’s database of over 35,500 plans. As of 6/30/2014, ...Read More

"While fiduciary responsibilities will always be top of mind, their [plan sponsors'] needs are becoming more complex as all parties recognize the difficulties employees are facing in saving for retirement." ...Read More

Anyone who has spent a significant amount of time on our Website will know that we have nothing but the highest respect for Jack Bogle, the Father of Indexing for Retail Investors. Recently, however, we saw ...Read More

The capitalization rate (or cap rate) on a real estate investment property is defined as its yearly net income divided by its price. For example, suppose we have two apartment buildings, both of which have net ...Read More

As noted in this CNBC article, The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) which is widely interpreted to be an indicator of fear has risen by 40% (actually 57% based on the 12/10/2014 close) over the three trading days ...Read More

Volatility is back. Just as many people were starting to think markets only ever move in one direction, the pendulum has swung the other way. Anxiety is a completely natural response to these events. Acting on ...Read More